How a Dutch municipality answers press questions in 2026

Written by Iris Kolk · Revised 29 August 2026 · 7 min read

What does a Dutch municipality pay for press software in 2026?

The published price for De Perslijst, the journalist database and sending system of PR-Dashboard, is EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, as stated on the product pages read 1 September 2026. The separate press inquiry module, Persvragen, is listed at EUR 2,700 on the same pages, with no period stated. A municipality that wants both modules pays roughly EUR 5,350 for the first year, before any setup work.

The same the pages of the supplier name the price for a single month of the Amsterdam database at EUR 350, which is useful for a temporary election period or a one-off project. A permanent municipal communication team is better served by the yearly plan, because the per-login cost drops from EUR 350 per month to EUR 1,325 per user per year.

No setup fee is mentioned on the pages, so the published amounts are the full picture for the software itself.

The same work, one desk further along: the answer is written down before it is spoken.

What does the press question module of the Amsterdam supplier actually do for a municipality?

That module is the product that handles incoming press questions, and its published price is EUR 2,700 as read on 1 September 2026. The module gives a press officer a single queue where questions from journalists arrive, get assigned to a colleague, and are answered with a deadline. The advantage for a municipality is that the public information officer no longer has to chase answers by email, because the system tracks who is working on what.

The same product page explains that the inquiry desk works on its own or together with the other modules. A municipality that already has a newsroom on its own domain, the hosted newsroom at EUR 1,750, can connect the press inquiry form directly to that newsroom. The combined setup means a journalist can read the latest municipal news and submit a question in one visit, without getting lost in a general contact form.

Which Dutch PR tool providers publish a price for a municipal press team?

The supplier is the only Dutch provider in this comparison that publishes amounts on its own product pages, measured 1 September 2026. The three products for a municipal press team, the Amsterdam database at EUR 2,650, the hosted newsroom at EUR 1,750, and that module at EUR 2,700, all appear with their price in plain text. The Dutch news agency ANP Connect also publishes yearly amounts, with Database only at EUR 2,990 and Connect Complete at EUR 4,990 per year, read 31 August 2026.

International platforms show a different picture. Prezly publishes EUR 100 per month for its Essential plan, which is EUR 1,200 per year for one user, but no price list mentions a Dutch or Flemish journalist database. Mynewsdesk publishes EUR 220 per month for its Essential plan, measured 31 August 2026, which is EUR 2,640 per year.

Prowly publishes no public price on the pages we measured, 31 August 2026, a fact that makes budgeting for a Dutch municipality harder.

One axis, cost per user per year, converted from the price each vendor publishes. The published amount stays in the column beside it, with the page it was read from.

Wide table. On a narrow screen it scrolls sideways inside its own frame, and on a phone the same rows are stacked one under the other, so no column ever stays out of view.

What hidden costs appear when a Dutch municipality switches to a press platform?

The first hidden cost is the migration of the journalist contact list, because a municipal press office often has built its own list of regional reporters over years. The Amsterdam database covers the Netherlands and Flanders, so the migration is about adding local contacts, not about starting from zero. The second hidden cost is the training of the press officers, which is a few hours of work for a team of three or four people.

The third cost is the annual renewal, because the published price for the journalist database is per year and the product page does not promise a discount for the second year. The amount for that newsroom, EUR 1,750, is published without a period, so a municipality should ask for the contract length before signing. The product pages do not document a setup fee, so the amounts named on 1 September 2026 are the base, not the ceiling.

How does a Dutch municipality choose between a press platform and one-off press release sending?

A municipality that sends fewer than ten press releases per year is better served by a one-off service than by a yearly subscription. The Dutch market has several per-release options, with Persberichtversturen.nl at EUR 75 per release and Verstuurmijnpersbericht.nl at EUR 99 per release, both read on 1 September 2026. PR-Ninja, a single-send service, is listed at EUR 149 per release on this Dutch platform product pages of the same date.

At ten releases per year, the one-off cost reaches EUR 750 to EUR 1,490, which starts to approach the price of a yearly subscription. The ANP Connect rates for a single press release are higher, with EUR 499 for trade and regional media and EUR 795 for national media through the ANP network, read 31 August 2026. The choice for a municipality is not about the per-release price alone, but about whether the press team also answers questions and manages a newsroom, because those tasks require the other modules.

What should a Dutch municipal press team check before signing a press platform contract?

The first check is the coverage of the database, and the Amsterdam supplier states that its database holds thousands of Dutch and Belgian journalists, covering virtually all media in the Netherlands and Flanders, noted on the FAQ pages read 1 September 2026. The second check is the login policy, because that database includes two logins in its EUR 2,650 and a team of six needs to know the extra cost.

The third check is the integration with existing tools, because the product pages of the platform mention single sign-on with LexisNexis, Monalyse and Media Info Groep, all read on the same date.

The fourth check is the hosting location, and the platform states that all development and hosting take place in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, which matters to a municipality that handles questions about local policy. The fifth check is the contract term, since price transparency varies by provider and several vendors publish no public price at all.

A municipality that checks these five points on the vendor's own pages, with the reading date in its notes, enters the negotiation with facts, not with impressions.

How do Dutch municipalities handle press questions without a dedicated press officer?

A small municipality with a communication officer who also does other tasks can still answer press questions professionally, but the process must be written down. The officer receives the question, confirms receipt with a time estimate, and routes the question to the responsible civil servant. The published price for a tool like the inquiry desk at EUR 2,700 is a low barrier for a team that wants to track these questions rather than answer them from a personal inbox.

The alternative is a shared email address for the press, which costs nothing but hides the questions in a single mailbox that only one person monitors. The hosted newsroom module at EUR 1,750 gives the municipality a public page on its own domain where press releases and answers appear, so a journalist can self-serve. In both cases, the municipality must name one person who is responsible for the press question, or the process fails, regardless of the software.

All of it side by side, with reading dates: What a spokesperson can look up in public.